


Bleeding Among the Orchids

by bardsley



Category: Forever Knight
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 20:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15275316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bardsley/pseuds/bardsley
Summary: When samples of Nick's blood go missing and Nick is nowhere to be found, Natalie and Janette team up to find him.





	Bleeding Among the Orchids

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greerwatson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greerwatson/gifts).



The gaudy tinted lighting made Natalie’s eyes ache. The last time she had been here, it was to pluck bullets out of Janette and Nick. The Raven was a different thing when it was open. The bodies moving in time to the throbbing of the music reminded her of a heart pulsing in the body of a living thing. But Natalie was not looking for a living thing.

Natalie brushed aside the chains and tried to look as if she did not care that she did not belong. She made her way to the bar, hoping to see Nick or at least Janette. She saw neither. Instead, there was a tall man behind the bar. He had high cheekbones and raven black hair. If he was not one of them, he should have been.

 “What can I get for you?” the man asked. He did not bother to raise his voice above the din of the club, and yet Natalie could hear him perfectly.

 “I’m looking for Nick,” Natalie said.

 Somewhere behind Natalie, a smooth feminine voice purred, “I’m afraid he is not on the menu, doctor…”

 Natalie turned to Janette with a nervous smile. “I need to find Nick. It’s important.”

 “Is it about a case?” Janette asked.

 Natalie looked away, just for a moment. “Not exactly.”

 Janette glanced at the bartender, just for a moment. Natalie felt more than saw the man move away to tend to other customers. “What is it that has you so concerned, doctor?”

 “Can you just help me find him? It’s--”

 “Important,” Janette interrupted. “Yes. I know. You said. You can tell me what has you so worried. You will not be breaking any confidences.”

 Natalie could not be sure if Janette had compelled her to speak, or if she simply wanted to confide in someone that badly, but either way she found herself confessing. “You know that I have been helping Nick.”

 Janette let out an amused puff of breath that was not quite a laugh. “Helping. Yes.”

 “I discovered some of his blood that I used for testing missing from the lab,” Natalie said. “And I can’t find Nick. I tried to tell him as soon as I came in this evening and saw it was missing. But he didn’t come in. He isn’t home. He isn’t answering his phone…”

 “Calm yourself, doctor,” Janette said. Although it was difficult to tell with Janette’s forever refined demeanor, Natalie thought that Janette did not seem completely calm herself. “Is there anything in this missing blood sample that could be traced back to Nick?”

 “No, of course not. Except…”

 A vein stood out on Janette’s pale throat. “Except?”

 “Except one of the lab assistants saw me drawing Nick’s blood. It’s not exactly a usual thing. I thought that we explained it away, but maybe…”

 “Yes. Maybe. Well, it is a place to start, isn’t it? Do you know where this lab assistant is?”Janette asked. Natalie could not help but admire her attitude of quiet determination.

 “She wasn’t scheduled to come in tonight, but I know where she lives,” Natalie said.

 “Let’s pay her a visit, shall we?” Janette replied.

 Natalie did not bother to argue Janette’s use of the word ‘we’.

  


~ * ~

  


The lab assistant’s name was Mabel Gideon. Mabel Gideon’s house was not far from the Raven. It was a large, looming thing painted sepulchre white. It stood out among the grounds that surrounded it like the last decaying tooth in the mouth of something ancient. Natalie had learned about the house not from Mabel herself, but from another co-worker who commented on how singular it was that anyone lived in the house at all, let alone someone that they worked with. Natalie had agreed. It was like the house out of a fairy story.

Natalie parked her car at the edge of the enormous drive. Janette stepped out as soon as the car stopped and looked at the house with… not awe. Not apprehension. She looked at the house with anticipation.

“We will find something here,” Janette said. “Although perhaps not Nick.”

Natalie locked the car. She looked from Janette to the house. “Why do you say that?”

“This house has a bad soul,” Janette said calmly. She strode up the drive to the front door.

Natalie could not tell if Janette was serious or not. She followed. Natalie was not sure that she believed that houses had souls, but something about this place did feel strange.

Natalie stopped beside Janette just as Janette was knocking at the door.

A young woman in nurse’s scrubs answered the door. “Hello?”

“Hi, I work with Mabel,” Natalie said. She smiled as she introduced herself. “We--”

“She isn’t here,” the nurse replied. Her dark, determined eyes did not invite argument.

Natalie was taken aback by the interruption, but Janette wasn’t.

“Nonetheless, we would like to come in and talk,” Janette said.

Natalie was fairly certain that Janette was doing her mind control thing, but the nurse did not let her come in right away.

“It’s alright, Anna,” said an old woman’s voice from inside. “Let them in.”

Anna, the nurse, stood in the doorway for a few moments longer before finally stepping aside. Janette brushed past her into the house. Natalie followed. “Thank you.”

The large old door closed softly on its hinges, but there was still something final in the sound, like the period at the end of a sentence.

Natalie and Janette stood looking at a little old lady in a wheelchair. She was thin and frail. Her white hair was well cared for and fell down her back in loose curls.

“It is so nice to meet Mabel’s friends,” the old woman said. “I am Mabel’s grandmother. Please call me Sally.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sally,” Natalie said.

Janette did not say anything. She seemed ill at ease with the old woman. Natalie could not tell if it was because Janette saw in the old woman a picture of decay that she would never be afflicted by or something else.

For her age, Sally seemed to be doing well. Her black eyes shone with intelligence. While Natalie had seen other old women shiver beneath piles of blankets, Sally wore only a single peach dressing gown and seemed perfectly comfortable.

“Come into the parlor,” Sally suggested. She beckoned with a frail hand. “Anna, could you bring us something cool to drink?”

“Where is Nick?”Janette demanded.

The old woman’s face crinkled in confusion, making her wrinkles deepen. “Who?”

“The man that you stole that pin from,” Janette said.

Sally fingered the silver pin fastened to her dressing gown. Natalie remembered that she had seen Nick wear it before.

“Oh, yes, how careless,” Sally sighed.

Anna lunged at Janette from behind. Sally propelled herself out of her chair with a ferocity that was not quite human. The old woman pinned Natalie to the floor. Her white hair was a curtain around both of them. Natalie tried to push Sally away, but she was stronger. The old woman’s wild eyes and long, gnashing teeth came closer and closer to Natalie’s throat. Sally was a newly made--and _badly_ made--vampire. Natalie was not able to wonder about what had gone wrong in the transformation, or feel horrified because she knew Nick would not consent to turning anyone. 

Janette plucked Sally off of Natalie as lightly as if she were a kitten--a mad kitten still demonically struggling in Janette’s hand.

“Tell me where Nick is and I might let you live,” Janette said. Her dark hair was in disarray.

Sally made a keening sound and Janette threw her against the wall. She landed with enough force to leave the indentation of her body in it.

“Tell me!”

“The greenhouse,” Sally said feebly.

The wall made a crunching noise as Janette pulled Sally from it. Natalie watched Janette drink from Sally and leave her on the ground, an empty husk. Then Janette yanked the door open and flew into the night.

Natalie called out to her, but it was hopeless. She did not want to stay with the old woman’s body or look around for what had happened to the nurse. They had fought like something that was not human. If that was what they were, could they really be killed by having their blood drained? Natalie was not immediately interested in finding out. She wanted to find Nick.

Natalie ran into the night. After she made her way to the back of the house, the greenhouse was not difficult to spot. The glass structure was almost as large as Natalie’s apartment.The doors of the greenhouse had been left open, but even so, stepping inside felt like stepping into an oven. The air was hot, wet, and steamy. It was heavy with the scent of tropical orchids in bloom. The glass walls and ceiling were heavily misted with water and Natalie felt thick warm droplets dripping into her hair, which was already beginning to frizz. The light was strange here. Wrong somehow.

Something crunched under Natalie’s shoe. Glass. Glass was everywhere, strewn about the ground, occasionally glittering in the dull light. Natalie realized what it was: broken UV lighting. Janette must have broken the bulbs.

Natalie stepped forward through the forest of tropical plants with their thick, meaty leaves and cloying scent. Then she saw them, Janette and Nick. Nick lay on the ground, chained and tied down with stakes. There were tubes sticking out of his carotid, brachial, and femoral arteries although whatever those tubes had been connected to was now gone.

Janette pulled out the last of the stakes, and pulled Nick toward her and into her arms. He inclined his head toward Janette’s neck. Natalie watched Nick drink from Janette. She was not sure if she should look. It seemed profoundly intimate.

When it was over, Janette helped Nick up. He blinked dazedly, seeming to notice her for the first time. He smiled. “Nat.”

Janette pushed Nick into Natalie’s hold.

“Get him home,” Janette insisted.

“But--!”

But once again, Janette was gone.

Natalie put her arm around Nick, supporting him as they walked back to the car.

  


~ * ~

 

After Natalie had gotten three or four bottles of what was not wine into Nick, he seemed much better. Nick had wanted to leave to go after Janette when she didn't arrive after the first hour. Natalie was still arguing that he wasn’t well himself yet. He had yanked open the door to find Janette standing in front of him.

Janette’s hair was half scattered dark curls on one side and half neatly arranged on another. Her dress was torn. She let out a soft huff and pushed past Nick into the apartment.

Grinning widely, Nick shut the door. “Are you--?”

Janette clicked her tongue. “No, no. None of that. You owe me a drink.”

Nick brought out one of the wine bottles that were not wine and poured a drink for Janette. “I owe you more than that.”

Janette took the glass. She sipped delicately. “You always do.” Then Janette smiled at Natalie. For a woman who could sometimes seem very cold, Janette had a lovely warm smile. “Has Nick told you how he came to be in the situation we found him in?”

Natalie could not help it. She rolled her eyes. “Well--”

“I went there on my own,” Nick said. “She asked for my help. I didn’t know there was a trap waiting.”

“You know, Nick,” Natalie said. “Always helping damsels in distress.”

“Or becoming one,” Janette commented. She hid a smile behind her glass as she took a sip.

“Those women are--?”

“Taken care of,” Janette confirmed. “I am afraid that you will need a new lab assistant, doctor.”

Natalie was bothered that she was not more bothered by that. “Thank you for your help.”

“And you, yours,” Janette said. “I would love to get to know you better, under more pleasant circumstances.”

Natalie found herself smiling. “I’d like that.”

“...this means trouble for me, doesn’t it?” Nick asked.

Janette scoffed. She made a dismissive gesture with the hand not holding the glass. “No.”

“Of course not!” Natalie agreed. She winked at Janette.


End file.
